Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to a film for use in a fixing device included in an image forming apparatus such as a copier and a printer, and to a fixing device with this film.
Description of the Related Art
A fixing device included in a copier or a printer uses a film. One known type of such a film has electrode portions and a heat generation portion (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-253141). In this film, the electrode portions are formed at both end parts in a longitudinal direction of the film, and the heat generation portion is provided between the electrode portions. A fixing device using this film causes the film to generate heat, utilizing joule heat. The fixing device causes generation of the Joule heat, by feeding an electric current to the heat generation portion by bringing an electrode member such as a conductive brush into contact with the electrode portion. Since the film itself generates heat, the film can contribute to energy saving and a reduction in warm-up period of the fixing device.